LOVE SUPERSTITIONS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 24 December 1925, Page 13

LOVE SUPERSTITIONS.

ASSOCIATED WITH YULETIDE,

I In Russia more betrothals take place during tlie Christmas season than at any other time of the year, owing to the fact, according to one observant writer, that the “warmth of the room thaws the ice of the affection.” Not only in Russia, however, is Cupid kept busy at Christmas time, for he finds a useful ally in the old Christmas love superstitions of our own country, which even in these prosaic days appeal to the romantic. Maidens, if we are to place any trust in old-time beliefs, have various means of having revealed to them their husbands to-be. One says that if a girl on the third night after Christmas abstains throughout the whole evening from eating, drinking, or speaking, and when retiring partakes of what is known as a “dumb” cake, which is composed of flour, salt, and water, she will assuredly dream of the man who is to share her future joys and sorrows. Certainly the eating of such a cake is deserving of this reward. Perhaps, however, one of the most popular love superstitions, particularly in the northern districts, is that which is really the outcome of an old custom, almost forgotten, known as the gathering of maidens’ purses. These purses were subscribed for among the population of the mining districts, and were supposed to be marriage portions for poor gilds who were shortly to be led to the altar by young men of the i village. It was the custom to throw these I purses through tho windows of the maidens' houses, ip order not to wound their feelings. In one parish of the north four purses are, or were until a recent date, provided every Christmas Day by a wealthy lady, who makes no secret of the fact that tho early days of her wedded life were made all the brighter by the aid of a kindly gift thrown through her bedroom window. And there are some people who still affirm that if a young lady just before retiring eats the egg of a black lien on Christmas Eve, after it has been boiled hard, tho yolk removed and' the cavity fi’led with salt, she will assuredly have pleasant dreams of her future lover. Certainly, if she does not, it won’t be the fault of the hen or the egg.